Celeste

After the festival started to wind down, the citizens of Winter Grove left the town square and headed towards the bars and restaurants of Main Street in search of somewhere warmer. Sterling and Celeste walked among them towards The Snowball's Chance. Sterling had a shift post-festival, and Celeste insisted on walking him there. It was only polite, she had said, as she was the one who'd asked him out. Sort of.

The date, real or not, had been a success. At least Sterling had enjoyed himself, much to his surprise. Despite the Christmas festivities all around them, keeping Celeste from moping about Jared had been a good distraction. And putting on a show to make her ex jealous had been strangely... fun. Even Celeste seemed to have enjoyed herself.

But now, as they reached the bar's entrance, he noticed her mood had begun to darken again. Sterling frowned. He had to go to work, but he didn't want to leave her like this. He glanced inside the big windows that lined the bar's front wall. It didn't look very busy just yet...

Sterling stopped just before the doors and turned to her. "Do you want to come in for a drink? Olly made a big batch of homemade eggnog that is actually pretty good."

"More alcohol? After last night?" Celeste laughed. "No thanks. I've learned my lesson and I don't need to add any more dumb mistakes to my list. I think I'm just going to turn in early." She let out a sigh.

Sterling frowned. He was right—her bad mood was back. He knew that if she went home now, she'd pick up her sad Christmas plans from where she left off. Love, Actually, and a box of tissues was waiting for her...

"It doesn't need to be an alcoholic drink," Sterling suggested.

"It's okay. Don't worry about me. You need to get to work, don't you? It looks like Olly needs you." She pointed through the window, where Olly was waving maniacally at them from behind the bar. He was in another Christmas sweater, this one a red and white swirl, like a giant peppermint candy. It's almost psychedelic, making Sterling's stomach turn.

Sterling just stared back at his friend. "He can wait. You know, maybe I should walk you home...." After all, Alicia had called in her favour to ask that he keep an eye on her. If he couldn't prevent a sappy movie sobfest, then it was at least his duty to make sure she got home safe.

"No, no! You don't have to do that! My apartment is close."

"I don't like sending women off on their own, especially at night."

"Don't worry about it," Celeste said. "I can survive the mean streets of Winter Grove, I assure you. And you've got to get to work. The bar is starting to fill up."

It was. But she was right—her place was close. It wouldn't take long...

"Would it make you feel better if I texted you when I got back?" she offered when she realized he wasn't going to give up.

"I guess. But you don't have my number."

"Well, that's an easy problem to solve," Celeste said, digging her phone out of her coat pocket. "What is it?"

Sterling hesitated for a moment before he told her his number. Celeste dutifully began typing it out and hesitated just a moment when she heard the area code—it wasn't local.

"You're a far way from home."

Sterling shrugged. "Not really. I'd need a home for that to be true."

Celeste paused at that comment. Again, she looked like she wanted to ask about it...

Sterling quickly moved on. "Got my number saved?"

"Y-Yeah. Got it."

"Then you're free to go," Sterling said with a laugh, trying to shift her mood. He didn't want her worrying about Jared, but he didn't need her worrying about him instead. "Text me as soon as you get home."

"I will," she said, tucking her phone away. She released a tense breath, and it burst out of her in a cloud of fog. "And again, thank you, for everything tonight. It was fun."

"I'd say let's do it again sometime, but..." Sterling gave a low chuckle.

Celeste laughed, too. "Yeah, I don't envision the need for another fake date anytime in my future..." She looked up at him, smiling.

But something over his shoulder seemed to catch her eye. Sterling looked back. It was Jared, of course. He was with his friends, Rebecca still in tow, heading into the bar.

Jared noticed them, too. He staggered to a stop and stared, his jaw tightening up. For a moment, it looked like he might charge over here and start something.

Sterling snorted. He was welcome to try...

But Rebecca yanked hard on his arm and dragged him into the bar.

When he turned back to Celeste, her eyes were cast down, and her lip trembled. Sterling exhaled. He didn't understand. She'd enjoyed making him jealous at the festival, so why was she so bothered now? Maybe it was the fact that Jared would still be with Rebecca even after their little act was over.

"I don't get it," she muttered under her breath. "If he's so jealous, why's he still with her?"

"Does it matter?" he said. "He's an idiot."

The way Celeste winced at that comment told him that it did, in fact, matter. She wasn't ready to let him go.

He had to try harder. "Forget him. The fact that he's not crawling back to you on his hands and knees by now, means he's not worth it."

But that seemed to spark something in her. She straightened up, and her eyes darted around as if something had just occurred to her.

"Celeste?" Sterling said, giving her a strange look.

"Do you want to go out with me again?" Celeste asked, suddenly focussing on him.

"What?" Sterling said. "Why?"

"Because I want to keep making Jared jealous," Celeste explained. "It's clearly bothering him. If we keep this up, then maybe he'll snap out of whatever this is—" she motioned through the window, where she could see Jared at the bar, Rebecca still hanging off of him, "—and come to his senses."

Sterling made a face. "Do you really think that will work?"

Celeste's cheeks went pink. "If you don't want to do it...."

"I never said that," Sterling said, exhaling deeply. "I just... Is a guy like that really worth it?"

"You don't know him like I do," Celeste said. "He's a good guy, really. This is totally out of character. I've been trying to figure out what came over him—why he just asked for a break out of nowhere. There's got to be something else going on."

Sterling was not convinced. "If you say so."

"I do," Celeste said. "So, will you?"

For a moment, Sterling thought about it. His first instinct was to say no, but then he remembered Alicia's favour.... He was in her debt, and all she had asked for was for him to look out for Celeste.

"Damn you, Alicia," Sterling muttered under his breath, then nodded. "Alright, sure. Tonight was fun, so why not?"

"You had fun?" Celeste said, her eyes going wide. "Really? At a Christmas festival?"

Sterling narrowed his eyes at her. "Maybe I did. So, what?"

Celeste grinned back. "See? Christmas isn't so bad."

"It wasn't Christmas that I enjoyed," Sterling said.

Celeste's cheeks got a little pinker. "Then what?" she asked breathlessly.

There was a bang on the window beside them. They looked up, and Olly was there, pressed against the window. Though his voice was muffled by the glass, they could hear him clearly.

"Get in here!" he shouted at Sterling before giving a quick wave to Celeste.

Sterling knocked back on the window, right in front of Olly's face. "I guess this is my sign to go." He turned back to her. "Don't forget to text me when you get home.

"I won't," Celeste said. "And I'll text you about the other dates, too."

Sterling gave her a stiff smiler. "Sounds... good. I guess I'll see you later, then."

"I-I guess you will," Celeste said, giving him a little wave.

He gave her a wave back and headed for the door. As he passed by the windows, he glanced inside. Lots of people were looking now, as Olly had made quite the scene. Of course, Jared was watching too though he was focused, again, on Celeste.

Sterling stopped. "Wait."

He turned back to Celeste and rushed toward her. He grabbed her and scooped her into his arms, pulling her off the ground into a tight hug. Celeste went stiff in his arms as if she was too stunned to move.

He held her for a second or two before gently putting her back on her feet. Olly was still in the window, staring at them with wide eyes.

"Just in case someone was watching," Sterling said with a wink as he headed back towards the door.

🎄

"Alicia did what?" Olly screeched as he poured Sterling his second cup of morning coffee, so startled he slopped a bit over the edge. They were sitting in the kitchen of his apartment over The Snowball's Chance, and Sterling was at the table, nursing the hard-won beverage while Olly was perched on the counter, guarding the coffee maker.

The bar had been so busy last night that Sterling hadn't gotten a chance to explain what exactly was happening with Celeste. In the rush of things, he had mostly put it out of his mind—except for the brief moments when he caught sight of Jared in the crowd, and they exchanged glares. Olly had tried to corner him a few times, but the post-festival rush had kept them on their feet. They were occupied the whole time until the end of the night when they could do little more than collapse into their respective beds.

But when Sterling had finally woken up, well into the morning, and crawled out of the spare room, Olly had been waiting for him in the kitchen. He held the coffee hostage until Sterling finally divulged the details. And so, Sterling had been forced to tell him everything...

"She called in her favor," Sterling said again, punctuating it with a deep exhale.

"And that means going on dates with Celeste?"

"The first date, yes," Sterling grumbled, rubbing at his face. "Alicia specifically requested that, though she really just wanted me to keep Celeste out of trouble while she's gone."

"That is such an Alicia thing to do," Olly said with a nod. "Just like Will. She must really be worried for her friend."

"I guess so. Thought it'd be easy enough... I didn't think it'd get so out of hand. I can't believe that I agreed to more dates."

Olly let out another shriek of a laugh. "Christmas came early this year!"

"Why?"

"Because I get to watch this all go down," Olly said.

Sterling turned his glare on him and took a big swallow of coffee. "I just thought that playing along with her little scheme might be the best way to keep her from doing something stupid."

Her scheme was stupid. Jared wasn't worth the effort, in his opinion, but it wasn't his place to talk her out of it. He figured he'd just tag along and run interference—within reason. Like reason could possibly apply to fake dates...

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Olly said, smirking.

🎄